Choosing a Doctor After Work Injury

Workers compensation will cover your medical treatment as long as the treatment is reasonable and necessary.

You even get to pick your own doctors, which is nice.

In this case, we are talking about who you choose to be your doctor after you may have already gone to the Emergency Room. It's fine to go to the Emergency Room after a work injury, and in fact ER doctors tend to be very credible because they see the injury firsthand in a very timely manner, before any lawyers get involved.

After the ER, you'll typically go to another doctor, and in theory they will prescribe reasonable and necessary medical treatments.

In many cases, however, a workers compensation insurance carrier will argue that the medical treatment you received was not reasonable or necessary.

For this reason, it's important that your doctor is licensed, credible and well-regarded.

It's also very desirable that they understand workers compensation claims. In fact, you may want to ask your doctor about their opinions on the workers compensation system. Believe it or not, some doctors are biased against workers compensation. You definitely don't want those doctors treating your workplace injuries.

Don't settle on a doctor just because their office is nearby. You deserve the best medical care available, so get online and find a great doctor for yourself.

It's good to start with a general practitioner or family doctor. If you need attention from a specialist, your first doctor can refer you to the specialist and that visit will likely be covered. Most workers comp attorneys would recommend that you not start out with a specialist, especially not a chiropractor. Insurance adjusters just don't seem to hold chiropractors in high esteem, even though they can be very helpful in providing great treatment.

If you start out with one doctor and don't like the doctor, most states will allow you to move on to a second primary doctor and still be covered for that doctor's treatment and for referrals from that doctor. But there are limits to this, so be sure to consult with a good workers compensation attorney to fully understand what is acceptable and what is not.

You should also be aware that the Workers Compensation insurance company will typically have the right to have a doctor of their choosing examine you. In workers comp parlance, this is called the Independent Medical Exam (IME).

It's not uncommon for the IME doctor to say your injury was not caused by any incident in work. At that point, it's your doctor's opinion against their doctor's opinion.

It's in these controversial scenarios where your selection of a doctor will matter most.

While the information above regarding choosing a doctor after a workplace injury apply generally to most scenarios, the rules change frequently and they also vary considerably from state to state.

For this reason, it's very important to consult with a workers compensation attorney who understands the rules where you live.